Attachment for kymographs



April F. FRANZ ATTACHMENT FOR KYMOGRAPHS Filed Dec. 15, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W '3 $7012. 38 l O [Z4 2o 32 fzz '39 f 4%., u I. Il ze 43 4G Il.. l Z8 Z5 4' 'l 23 lL-.

440ML W7A ATTORNEYS vApril 6, 1954 F. FRANZ 2,674,514

ATTACHMENT FOR KYMoGRAPHs Filed Dec. 16. 1948 2 sheets-sheet 2 4 ATTOR N EY Patented Apr. 6, 1954 UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE ATTACHMENT FOR KYMOGRAPHS Frederick Franz, New Haven, Conn. Application December 16, 1948, Serial No. 65,601

11 Claims.

l 'This invention relates to an attachriientv Ifor kymo'graphs orsimilar instruments and more'par- `ti'cularly to` a. time=scaletracer for tracing ya time scale uponI a v'moving chart so kthat the factor of time may be related to other 4data recorded on the chart.

In the use of 'kymographs a record is usually made on a chart, such as-smoked paper, of pulse Waves, respiratory movements and other biologicall responses, the smoked paper usually being mounted 'on a revolving drum. A time line or scalei's generally traced upon the paper so that the observer may correlate the observed phenomena`or`therecordeddata with absolute time. That is, as the paper is revolved by the 'drum upon whichA it is mounted, rthe time scale and a graph are traced at the same time, the graph representing 'the' record of the responses which are desired to Vbe observed. I

I- ccntemplate'by the present-invention the provision of va relatively simple and 4eiiicierlt vdevice for `tracing thetime sca-le on a moving chart, illustrated in the present application as theI chart on therevolving drum vof a kymograph. To this end, Iprovide one or' more styli (two as illustrated) which are carried by spring arms, and which are mounted to make contact with the chart and Vto be'moved' at intervals from a base line to trace marks at right angles to this 'base line, the intervals :between these scale `markings corresponding to definite intervals of time.

Each stylus is -designed 'to be moved by an impact member, theseimpact' members being in turn actuated from a synchronous `electric motor, and the impacts against the stylus tending to move the same being made at regular time intervals. As illustrated, these impact members arecarried by spring arms secured at their ends remote from the free ends which attack the styli, and cams or star Wheels are provided to move the impact members in a direction away from the styliA and then release them, whereby they may bereturned toward their original positions by the inherent resilience of the spring arm; thus striking blows against the styli and moving them inthe `proper direction to trace scale marks upon the moving chart.

One object of the present invention is to provide a neW and improved devicefor tracing time scale marks upon amoving chart;

Another object of the invention is to provide. a simple and efficient mechanism for tracing time indications upona movingy chart, the mechanism comprising a stylus which is moved: at regular and precise intervals of time in contact with the 2 chart upon which the indicationsare'tobe traced.

Still another object of the invention is to -p'r'ovide an apparatus of the character described in which the movement imparted to the stylus/at certain regular intervals of time is greater than that imparted to the stylus at other times, so that the scale traced upon the chart by thevstylus will comprise both long and shortscale markings, the longer scale markings denoting a greater interval of time than the shorter.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device of the character `described having one or more styli suitably supported to veffect scale markings upon a chart, the styli being movedy by impact members, which impact members are in turn actuated at regular intervals of time by means of a synchronous electrici-notor.

A still further object of the invention is to-,provide va device for tracing a plurality of scales on a moving chart, the indicating; markings of certain of said scales -being more numerousfper unit of time than others of said scales.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device for tracing time scales upon a moving chart, each of said scales having time intervals of a length different from those of the other scales so thatphenomena of short duration may be as accurately timed as those of lon'g duration.

To these and other ends the inventionffconsists inv the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter ydescribed and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational! View of a kymograph show-ing the application of my improved attachment;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View of the time-scaletracing attachmentl on line 2 2 of Fig. 1-;

Fig. v3 isa sectional View on line 3 3 of Fig-4;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational View of the attachment looking toward the right in Fig. 1.;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary View of one ofthe'starwheel cams and associated structure; and

Fig. 6 shows the time scales traced upon the k'ymograph chart by my apparatus.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment ofmy invention, I have shownin the drawing-sin aconventi'onal way a portion of a kymograph comprising a l'base I0 and an upright shaft II upon which is supported a revolving drum I2 carrying a chart I3 of smoked paper, as is usualin devices of this kind.

Adjacent this apparatus is a supporting base I4 carrying an upright rod I 5 to which is adjustably secured an arm I6. this arm being rigidly secured to the frame or case l1 of the attachment for tracing the scale upon the chart i3. As shown more particularly in Fig. 3, the attachment comprises upper and lower styli 20 and 2 l, these styli being, as shown, formed integrally with spring arms 22 and 23 which are secured to the case or frame l1 by a screw or other suitable fastening member 24. The styli are provided upon the free ends of these spring arms, and are, due to the resilience of the arms, permitted movement in a direction substantially transverse to their length, or in an up-and-down direction, as shown in Fig. 3. Their movement away from each other may be limited by the staple 25 secured to the frame l1, the arms 22 and 23 passing between the legs of this staple.

Impact members, designated generally at 26 and 21, are provided to make contact with the spring arms 22 and 23 and move the latter. The impact members 26 and 21 are likewise of resilient material so as to constitute spring arms, and are secured to the frame l1 by the screws 28 and 23 at their ends remote from the styli. Intermediate their ends, the spring members 26 and 21 are provided with transversely extending portions 33 and 3i (Figs. 2 and fl) and, on their extended ends beyond these portions, are provided wth transversely extended end portions 32 and 33 which lie across the spring arms 22 and 23 adjacent the styli 20 and 2 i. As shown in Fig. 3, these impact members lie on opposite sides of the styli, one lying above the upper stylus and the other below the lower stylus, so that the effective movement of these impact members to cause movement of the styli will be in a direction toward each other.

Secured to the frame l1 is the case 35 of a synchronous electric motor of any approved form, this motor having a shaft 36 which, through speed reducing gearing designated generally `at 31, drives a shaft 38. Upon the end ci the shaft 38 is eccentrically mounted a pin 33 (Figs. 2 and this pin engaging the teeth of a ratchet wheel 43 secured to a shaft 4l rotatably mounted in the frame member I1. A stop pawl 42 may be provided to prevent reverse rotation of the ratchet wheel 43. While the shafts 38 and 4l may be rotated at any desired speed, I have found it convenient to rotate the shaft 3d at sixty revolutions per minute, and to rotate the shaft 4| at one revolution per minute. This reduction between the shafts can be readily and easily accomplished the mechanism shown in 5 wherein sixty teeth are provided upon the ratchet wheel 40 and this wheel being moved through the angle subtended by one tooth by means of the pin 39 upon each revolution of the shaft 38. Thus, the shaft 38 will make one revolution per second and the shaft 4l, one revolution per minute.

Mounted upon the shaft 38 is a cam in the form of a star wheel 43 having five salient points or projections 44, one of these projections, designated at 44e, being longer than the rest. This cam rotates in a clockwise direction, as shown in Fig. 3, and its teeth are adapted. to engage the transverse portion 30 of the spring arm 26 of the upper impact member, and thus raise the member from the spring arm 22 of the stylus` 20. The projections 44 are provided at their trailing edges with a sharp ydrop toward the shaft 38 so that when the portion 30 of the impact member rides off of the projection, it will drop sharply downwardly toward the shaft 38, due to the resilience of the arm 28. Thus, the end 32 of the impact member will be raised from the stylus arm 22 and then descend sharply against the latter to strike it a sharp blow and cause it to move from the full-line position shown in Fig. 3 to the dotted-line position shown in that figure. Due to the fact that there are five of the salient points 44, each indication or scale mark made upon the chart by the stylus 20 due to these movements will represent one-iifth of a second, and every nfth scale mark will be longer than the preceding four, due to the greater length of the projection 44a. Therefore, at every second a scale mark of greater length will be made upon the chart.

Upon the shaft 4| is secured a similar cam member in the form of a star wheel 46, this wheel being provided with salient points or projections 41. In this case, there are six such projections and one of them 41a is of greater length than the remainder. These projections are adapted to engage the transverse portion 3l of the spring arm 21 of the lower impact member, and the star wheel rotating in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3, the member 21 will be moved downwardly or away from the spring arm 23 and then released so that it will ibe moved upwardly by its own resilience to strike the spring arm and move the stylus 2| upwardly to trace a scale marking upon the chart I3. As the shaft 4l makes one revolution per minute and has six projections, a scale marking will be made every ten seconds, and every sixth one of these markings (which will designate full minutes) will be longer than the rest, due to the greater length of the projection 41e.

It may be noted that the direction of movement of the impact members at their point of contact with the styli is oblique to that of the styli themselves, and, by this disposition of the parts, there is a dissipation of energy by frictional contact between the two members so as to prevent the impact members from striking the styli a second rebound blow and thus prevent the tracing of fuzzy division lines between the interval scale marks. The impact members are light in weight and reach their maximum velocity before striking the styli. Their high velocity is then transmitted to the styli, thus insuring sharp graduations.

In Fig. 6 of the drawings, are shown the markings made upon the chart by the styli at two different speeds of revolution of the drum upon which the chart is mounted. The upper view of this gure corresponds to a very slow rotation of the drum, the length of the scale corresponding to two minutes of time. It will be seen from this view that the upper stylus makes a substantially continuous mark when the chart is revolved so slowly, and the lower stylus has made a scale marking every ten seconds, with longer marks denoting the one minute intervals. The lower view of this gure shows the scale markings when the drum is rotated rapidly, the length of the scales corresponding to ten seconds. In this instance, the upper stylus has made fifty scale markings, each of the shorter ones designating one-fifth of a second, and each of the longer ones designating the second intervals, while the lower stylus has recorded only the one ten-second interval. As seen the adjustment is such that the one minute and ten second division lines recorded by the lower stylus will align exactly with the one-second interval markings traced by the upper stylus.

While I have shown and described a preferred stood'thatsit. is.not.to Abe. limited to alloof the details shownw but is capable of .1. modification and .variation -vvithin the .spirit Aofthe invention and .within the scope .of the .claims.

.What'Lclaim 1. Means vfor. tracing a. scalei on` a moving-.sheet comprising.` a. stylus,4 means for supporting Asaid position, an impact member biased to a position against said stylus, means to move said impact member repeatedly away from said stylus and then release it to effect repeated blows of the impact member on said stylus, and certain of said blows at regular intervals being heavier than the remaining blows.

2. Means for tracing a scale on a moving sheet comprising a stylus, means for supporting said stylus in operative position with respect to the sheet and biasing it to stand in a predetermined position, an impact member biased to a position against said stylus, means to move said impact member away from said stylus and then release it to effect repeated blows of the impact member on said stylus, said means comprising a rotatable cam member having a plurality of salient teeth to engage said impact member, and means for rotating said cam member, one of said teeth being longer than others of said member to effect a greater movement of the stylus.

3. Means for tracing a scale on a moving sheet comprising a stylus, means for supporting the stylus in operative position with respect to the sheet, an impact member adapted to strike said stylus, spring means urging said impact member toward the stylus, means to' move said member away from the stylus and then release it, said means comprising a rotatable cam member having a plurality of projecting elements engaging the impact member, and means for rotating said member and the engaging surface on one of said elements lying at a greater distance from the axis of the cam member than that of the other elements to effect a greater movement of the stylus.

4. Means for tracing a scale on a moving sheet comprising a pair of styli, means for mounting said styli in operative position with respect to said sheet and for movement across the surface of the sheet substantially normal to the direction of the movement thereof, comprising spring arms upon one of which each stylus is mounted, an impact member engaging each stylus, means for moving said impact members to effect repeated blows thereof on said styli, said means comprising a cam member engaging each impact member, and a single moto-r for rotating said cam members.

5. Means for tracing a scale on a moving sheet comprising a pair of styli, means for mounting said styli in operative position with respect to said sheet comprising spring arms upon one of which each stylus is mounted, an impact member engaging each stylus, means for moving said impact members tol effect repeated blows thereof on said styli, said means comprising a cam member engaging each impact member, and a single motor for rotating said cam members in timed relation one with another, one impact member being moved by its associated cam member in a direction opposite to that in which the other impact member is moved by the cam member associated therewith.

16. Meansfforitracing;a=scaleaonmmovingfsheet comprising .a pair of4 .styli, imeansfor mounting said styli operative a. position with` respect Atto said sheet comprisingnspringarms .upon .one-lof which each stylus isfmounted, lany impact :member engaging each stylus, means for moving said impact members to` effect Arepeated blows thereof on said styli, ,said-means comprising an cam member engaging each impact member, and means for rotating said cam members in timed. relation one with another, one vimpact member being moved by its associated cam member in a direction opposite to that in which the other impact member is moved by the cam member associated therewith, each of said impact members being mounted on a spring arm whereby it is returned to its original position after being released by the associated cam member.

7. Means for tracing a scale on a moving sheet comprising a pair of styli, means for mounting said styli in operative position with respect to said sheet comprising spring arms upon one of which each stylus is mounted, an impact member engaging each stylus, means for moving said impact members to effect repeated blows thereof on said styli, said means comprising a cam member engaging each impactg member, and means for rotating said cam members at such rotational speeds that the speed of one will be an even multiple of the speed of the other per unit of time, said cam members being positioned between said impact members and being rotated at different speeds.

8. Means for tracing a scale on a moving sheet comprising a stylus, means for supporting the stylus in operative position with respect to the sheet, an impact member adapted to strike said stylus, means to effect a succession of blows of said member against said stylus at regular intervals of time and means for effecting heavier blows at certain of said intervals than at others of said intervals.

9. Means for tracing a scale on a moving sheet comprising a stylus, a spring arm supporting said stylus in operative position with respect to the sheet for movement across the surface of the sheet, an impact member adapted to strike said stylus and means to move said impact member to effect a blow against said stylus arm, said spring arm biasing said stylus to normally stand in a predetermined position, and a second spring arm on which said impact member is mounted biasing said member to a position adjacent said stylus.

l0. Means for tracing a scale on a moving sheet comprising a pair of styli, means for maintaining said styli in operative positions with respect to the sheet and for movement across the surface of the sheet substantially transverse to the direction of movement of sheet, said means comprising spring arms upon one of which each stylus is mounted, an impact member engaging each arm, and means for moving said impact members to effect repeated blows thereof on said styli, said means comprising a cam member engaging each impact member.

11. Means for tracing a scale on a moving sheet comprising a pair of styli, means for maintaining said styli in operative positions with respect to the sheet and for movement across the surface of the sheet substantially transverse to the direction of movement of the sheet, said means comprising spring arms upon one of which each stylus is mounted, an impact member engaging each arm, and means for moving said impact ymembers to eflect repeated blows thereof on said styli, and each of said impact members being mounted on a spring arm whereby it is returned to its orginal position after being moved to strike a. blow on its associated stylus.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Number Busha. July 11, 1876 lo Number 

